Khatija Alliji

Khatija Alliji

Lancaster University

Khatija is a Royal Society-funded PhD student at Lancaster University supervised by Dr James Robinson, Prof Nick Graham, Dr Casey Benkwitt and Prof Simon Brandl (University of Texas). After completing a degree in Marine Biology at the University of Portsmouth, Khatija pursued a MSc in Ecosystem-based Management of Marine Systems at the University of St Andrews. Upon completed her Masters, Khatija joined the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) where she worked on various projects, including the coral IUCN red listing effort, fisheries conservation and ecosystem modelling. Khatija then worked at a few consultancies, where she was primarily assessing the impacts of human activity on the environment. Most recently, Khatija has been working at KAUST at their consultancy where she was mainly focused on baseline and monitoring surveys for various projects in Saudi Arabia. Khatija’s PhD will explore the connection between pelagic planktivorous fish and coral reefs and what are the drivers of this relationship and how oceanographic processed might influence it.

Research Interests

Khatija is interested in how ecosystems change and can be managed to ensure their conservation for future generations. Her PhD research investigates how oceanographic drivers, such as upwelling and currents, influence pelagic-reef connectivity and planktivorous fish communities. Using isotope analysis and existing datasets, she will quantify connectivity strength and apply statistical models to examine links between pelagic diet signals, ocean conditions, and fish biomass. Through the use of statistical models, pelagic subsidy strength in the Indian Ocean can be predicted and its impact on reef fish communities assessed.

Selected Publications

Spence MA, Martindale JA, Alliji K, Bannister HJ, Thorpe RB, Walker ND, Mitchell PJ, Kerr MR, Dolder PJ (2024) Assessing the effect of multispecies interactions on precautionary reference points using an ensemble modelling approach: A North Sea case study. Fisheries Research 280: 107160.
Gutierrez L, Polidoro B, Obura D, Cabada-Blanco F, Linardich C, Pettersson E, Pearce-Kelly P, Kemppinen K, Alvarado JJ, Alvarez-Filip L, Banaszak A, Casado de Amezua P, Crabbe J, Croquer A, Feingold J, Goergen E, Goffredo S, Hoeksema B, Danwei H, Kennedy E, Kersting D, Kitahara M, Kružić P, Miller M, Nunes F, Quimbayo JP, Rivera-Sosa A, Rodríguez-Martínez R, Santodomingo N, Sweet M, Vermeij M, Villamizar E, Aeby G, Alliji K, Bayley D, Couce E, Cowburn B, Nuñez Lendo CI, Porter S, Samimi-Namin K, Shlesinger T, Wilson B (2024) Half of Atlantic reef-building corals at elevated risk of extinction due to climate change and other threats. PloS one 19(11): p.e0309354.
Cowburn B, Alliji K, Bluemel JK, Couce E, Lawrance E, McManus E, van Hoytema N, Devlin M (2023) Ecosystem-based management of coral reefs from afar–A guide for remote scientists and remote places. Environmental Science & Policy 139: 29-38.
Lonsdale JA, Gill AB, Alliji K, Birchenough SN, Blake S, Buckley H, Clarke C, Clarke S, Edmonds N, Fonseca L, Goodsir F (2022) It is a balancing act: the interface of scientific evidence and policy in support of effective marine environmental management. Sustainability 14(3): 1650.
Mitchell PJ, Bolam SG, Close HL, Garcia C, Monk J, Alliji K (2021) Distribution of demersal fish assemblages along the west coast of St Lucia: Implications for planning no‐take marine reserves. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems: 31(6): 1354-1366.
Taylor N, Clarke L, Alliji K, Barrett C, McIntyre R, Smith R, Sutherland W (2021) Marine Fish Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Selected Interventions.
Maes T, Perry J, Alliji K, Clarke C, Birchenough SN (2019) Shades of grey: marine litter research developments in Europe. Marine Pollution Bulletin 146: 274-281.
Clarke LJ, Taylor N, McIntyre R, Barrett C, Alliji K, Smith RK (2019) Effects of conservation interventions on marine fish: a protocol for subject-wide evidence synthesis.